DVD: Doc: Power of Community, The : How Cuba Survived Peak Oil

DVD (2006, US, Community Solution) How Cuba survived economic meltdown and became a world model of sustainability - organic farming, community gardens for growing food locally, use of renewable energy. Features Cuban permaculturalist Roberto Perez

£13.00 inc p&p

Peak Oil is a phrase used to describe a situation when oil supplies in the world reach a peak, after which they decrease, never to rise again. Many leading geophysicists predict that this will have occurred by 2015. When Cuba lost access to imported Soviet oil, the country faced a challenge of how to create a low-energy society several years before the rest of the world will need to. This film shows how Cuba is dealing with this, and what lessons other countries might learn.

The film was made by Community Solutions based in the United States, and tells the story of how the Cubans are triumphing over adversity in the face of the collapse of the Soviet trading relationship, and the ongoing US blockade. It begins with some information about the concept of Peak Oil, and includes details about the 1970s’ oil crisis in the US. The film continues in Cuba, with interviews of a wide range of Cubans, looking at how the immediate crisis of feeding the population was overcome, following the Soviet collapse. It describes the changes in agriculture, both in the countryside and in urban areas. It also deals with other oil related issues such as transport, housing and energy generation, albeit in less detail.

What is omitted from the film, and not made explicit by the filmmakers, who, nevertheless, clearly admire particular innovations and aspire to adopt them in the United States, is any discussion of the socialist nature of Cuban society, and how that has impacted on how the country is able to meet the challenge of its own ‘peak oil’. However, the film speaks for itself, and presents a good basic background to elements of the ‘special period’ in Cuba, showing how the gains of the revolution were protected whilst addressing the challenge of reducing energy use. Throughout the film there is an emphasis on the ingenuity of the people, the sense of community and co-operation amongst the Cubans, and how collective mobilisation of the whole society is key to the success.